​There is another half to my specialist savoury side, that would be my specialist sweet Queen Jess AKA The Chocolate Artisan. Since delving into the world of smoking and curing she has been by my side throwing ideas and ingredients into my smoke box…

On such collaborations, we have developed some pretty tasty treats and the idea of mixing savoury and sweet, excites the imagination as much as the palate. The first bacon chocolates came about from a private function I got flown out to the Philippines to cater for, which involved 1 day and a 5-course dinner for 30 people, that I cooked by myself. Prior to leaving Australia I crisped up some bacon and turned it into a crumb before handing the reigns to Jess, where she tempered chocolate and mixed in some smoked salt and the bacon and set it in the moulds.

Crispy bacon would make a nice wallpaper...

​Since then, there have been lots of joint adventures, plenty of great meals, experiences, experiments and learning. We hosted a good friends birthday party at the school Celebration Cooking with Jessica Pedemont on a chocolate appreciation evening, customized for her party, Souffie appreciates the finer things in life, whiskey, chocolate and of course bacon. So naturally customising this party was easy (you can’t go wrong with top quality ingredients that go together hand in hand).

Souffie and her guests working their magic

​I oven baked some handmade bacon, until it was golden brown and crispy, with some I made some bacon crumbs, ready for Jess to make some of our now legendary bacon chocolates. We got a bottle of Johnnie Walker, Platinum label Whiskey from the birthday girl, as she is somewhat of a whiskey connoisseur and set to work infusing it with bacon, keep posted for more info in, The Bacon Infused Whiskey blog, coming soon.

On the evening of the party, everyone got around and watched a video on the process of chocolate from bean to bar, to get them in the mood for the journey ahead, they then had a sensory overload touching, feeling, smelling and tasting the cocoa bean at different stages, before learning how to temper and dip different ingredients into this chocolate, they rolled up their sleeves and got involved, they where drinking the bacon infused whiskey, which was subtle and sweet but with a definite finish of bacon. Dipping the bacon crisps in chocolate, finishing with a sprinkling chocolate coated pop rocks.

Different styles of bacon chocolates

Bacon whiskey stay tuned for blog post coming soon

The evening was great fun for everyone involved and they all got goodie bags to take home with enough rations to last for weeks. A fantastic celebration, where all the guests came together, worked in teams to produce their own treats!Get in contact to book your private function today!